Day 50, March 16, Temple #13 Raleigh, North Carolina

Michael, my Kate, and her family love living in the piedmont country of North Carolina.  They are only 3 hours from the beach at the Outer Banks, and Winston-Salem is a lovely town in which to raise a family.  Today we drove through what is called The Research Triangle comprised of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University, the intellectual research capital of the world.  It's beautiful country, and the 4-hr drive to and from the temple is gorgeous, especially at this time of year when leaves are budding, lawns and roadsides are awash in the fresh light green of new grass, and daffodils, hyacinth, and crocus abound.  Temple #13 in Raleigh is a small temple but was completely renovated a couple of years ago due to mold, and the interior colors and decor is stunning.  Absolutely stunning.  We had a richly spiritual visit to the temple.  Again.  

We had a lovely time with Kate, a great shelter from the storms outside.  She is my angel.  Thank you, Kate.  It is always a joy to be in your home.  See you in October.

Now on to Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Three amazing things: 1- How is it that the best bed I have ever slept on, including my new expensive Casper mattress at home, is in Bambi?  How I have missed my Bambi sleep.  2- Aaron zoned out when he was in the company of my cousin from the highlands of Scotland.  Her brogue was just too deep for Kasper to understand her with his already highly compromised hearing.  But he doesn't have a problem with this deep southern drawl we hear everywhere.  I find it charming and cute and hilarious and infectious, even in the temple.  Can't help but pick up a bit of a drawl just being around them.  3- We've all heard of the Continental Divide, right?  But did you know there's an Eastern Continental Divide?  I didn't either, until we passed over it this afternoon on our way west back into the Appalachians.  Apparently the Appalachians are only part of this raised terrain which runs from Lake Ontario in the north to the Florida panhandle in the south.  This divide separates the watershed from all rain, streams, and lake drainage into the Atlantic Seaboard Watershed from the Gulf of Mexico Watershed.  Who knew!

Good deeds:  Aaron was originally not too keen on my idea to look for opportunities for a good deed everyday, but he has since become a full-fledged partner.  In fact, he loves to gloat when he finds such an opportunity before I do, and he can't wait to report in to me.  Take today:  while in the Costco checkout line, he bounced up to me with a smile on his face to report that he had already performed his good deed for the day, had I?  After gassing up, he noticed a woman had forgotten to put her gas cap back in place, so he waved her down to let her know of her mistake.  She was most grateful.  I am most grateful to be married to a man who consistently thinks of others before thinking of himself.  It makes for one happy union.  At the same time he was blessing others outside, I happened upon a woman who was checking out sweatshirts when two stacks fell off the table leaving a pile of about 2 dozen on the ground.  Why is it that the first thing we humans do when such a happenstance occurs is to look around to see who may have witnessed our misadventure?  Such an odd response that we all seem to do.  Anyway, I ran to her aid and reassured her that it happens to all of us, and together we laughed while we restacked the shirts.  Next, I witnessed a disgruntled  customer giving grief to the poor pharm tech over the fact that she couldn't get her medications due to a computer blackout.  The poor tech was profusely apologizing while taking a verbal beating from this customer who then went over to the pharmacy window to demand that she get her meds. Now!  I needed a med, too, which I had had phoned in from the St George Pharmacy, only I won't be back this way to retrieve it.  Clearly I am more discomfited than the cranky customer in front of me, but I made a point to reassure the poor pharm tech that it's not her fault and she shouldn't be misused by anybody.  I told her to let it slide off her back and not to let the orneriness of others get to her.  I told her she's doing her best, hang in there.  She expressed appreciation for my understanding.  All I did was try to mop up after a gremlin had passed through.